I'm going to make a bold statement now, and here it is. If cinema,
the very act of putting images and sounds on a piece of film and running
them through a projector, was invented for any single film, then that
film was "2001: A Space Odyssey". Forget "Citizen
Kane". For my money, Kubrick's masterpiece about space exploration
(and the exploration of our own evolution and our own minds, if you
want to get right down to it) is the single greatest film ever made.
Which is not to say that it's my favorite. It isn't. But I can't think
of any film that is closer to perfection than this one.
"2001" is the story of human evolution. Why else would
it begin in prehistoric times with our earlier ancestors encountering
a huge, black monolith and learning how to use tools? From there,
we have an astonishing jump cut to the future. A spaceship docks at
a space station with beautiful, balletic, simple precision. A man
leaves the spacecraft, on a mission to investigate another monolith,
this one found deliberately buried on the surface of the moon. From
there, we have another mission: a group of astronauts are on a course
for Jupiter for a mission that none of them yet know. The majority
of the crew have been put aboard in cryo-sleep. The only ones awake
and monitoring the day-to-day side of things are two astronauts by
the name of Dave and Frank and HAL-9000, the computer which oversees
all aspects of the mission.
All of these stories are fascinating in their own way, and they are
all really just one large story. The film has the noblest theme of
all: why are we here and what is it all about? "Citizen
Kane" is a glorified soap opera at its core. "2001"
is a meditation on the meaning of life itself. Which one would you
rather see? The characters in "2001" may not be the greatest.
They are rather dull, really. But they do have definite personality,
it's just not that amazing. Is Kubrick trying to suggest the dehumanization
of humanity through technological progress? I don't know. I'd like
to think so. That's my interpretation anyway. How else can you account
for the fact that the most interesting character in the piece is a
computer? Is this what the monolith has come to take us away from?
Who knows.
That is another of the magical things about this movie. It is open
to interpretation. More so than any film I have ever seen. It's thought
provoking and provides ample opportunity for discussion afterward.
You could debate the themes and meaning and images of this film for
years. People have been doing so ever since its initial release, in
fact. It's a mysterious film, which makes it all the more fascinating.
I believe it's about humans and the way they are constantly evolving
throughout time. And I believe that the ending represents a new step
in our evolution and takes one of the characters through a period
of observation and enlightenment by another species of beings and
leads him to another plane of existence he had not previously known
of. That's my take on it, anyway. Feel free to determine your own.
You need other tokens of the film's genius? Okay. This is the most
elegant science fiction film ever made. The ships and the space stations
move in a ballet of color sound, moving in precision with the classical
music on the soundtrack and creating a haunting flood of imagery no
other sci-fi film has yet achieved. The ships in this film move as
actual spaceships would. They take their time. They are objects moving
at astronomical speeds that look like they are floating slowly due
to the vastness of surrounding space. I like how one particular spacecraft
is shown moving quite rapidly at a distance, and then seems to be
taking a leisurely pace when we get right up to it. I love the little
details peppered throughout this film as well. I love the little touches
of product placement showing us that this is not a world so far removed
from ours. There is something about seeing a IBM logo on a man's spacesuit
which reminds you that this is a world only a little farther ahead
of ours, but with the same concerns and passions and products. I love
that the film takes a moment to show us how a phone call from a space
station would look, and how the a little girl would still seemed distracted,
even if her daddy was calling from the moon. I loved the day-to-day
routine of the sequences aboard the Jupiter craft.
But I also love the exhilarating rush of imagery that is the "Jupiter
and Beyond the Infinite Sequence". The whole film needs to be
seen in a theater (and one with the largest possible screen) for maximum
impact, but especially this sequence. In this part of the film, you
no longer feel like a viewer. You feel like an active participant
in the story being told. The "Jupiter" sequence sucks you
in as completely as the character of Dave is sucked in and takes you
on a journey right along with the main character. It's a remarkable
bit of cinematic bliss. The whole film washes over you in the theater
in a way which makes every image that much more powerful. You can't
appreciate the close-up of HAL's electronic eye and the subsequent
close-up of two men's lips until these shots are looming above you
on a seventy foot screen. You cannot conceive of the detail that is
hidden away in each shot until it dwarfs you. The red flashing messages
indicating the deaths of the crew are that much more distressing when
magnified to theater height. The entire movie just dwarfs you and
mesmerizes you. It leaves you hypnotized, entranced, in awe. It takes
you to a new level of film going just as it takes Dave on his journey.
"2001" is a sumptuous visual and audio feast which will
shock you, exhilarate you, sends chills down your spine and cause
the hairs on your arms and neck to stand on end.
It is the defining film of film. It is amazing, triumphant and haunting.
It is, in my mind, the best film ever made. Not my favorite, quite
(to me, a favorite is something that is personally attuned simply
to you, it is like saying that Cindy Crawford is the most beautiful
woman you have ever seen but so and so is the woman you love more
than any others) but definitely on the list. It's a marvel of editing,
shot composition, visual effects (which, by the way, still look as
fresh and as amazing as if they had been done yesterday), music and
sheer emotion. "2001" is immaculate, divine and glorious.
